Benchmarks continue to trade higher; European mkt advance

The key equity indices continued to trade in positive terrain with modest gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 22,050 mark. Auto, pharma and realty shares advanced while oil & gas stocks declined.

At 13:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 381.19 points or 0.53% to 72,431.57. The Nifty 50 index added 135.30 points or 0.62% to 22,046.05.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.82% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.88%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,248 shares rose and 1,514 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Mahindra and Mahindra (up 4.07%), Bharat Bajaj Auto (up 3.39%), Maruti Suzuki (up 3.03%), SBI Life Insurance Company (up 2.98%) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 2.97%) major Nifty gainers.

Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.69%), Britannia Industries (down 1.10%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (down 0.95%), Axis Bank (down 0.48%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.20%) were major Nifty losers.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) jumped 4.22% after the company and the Volkswagen Group announced the signing of the first supply agreement on components of Volkswagen�s MEB for M&M�s purpose-built electric platform INGLO. The deal covers the supply of certain electric components as well as unified cells.

Stocks in Spotlight:

TVS Motor Company added 3.16% after the company announced that it has acquired 28.57% stake in the Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) for Rs 2.5 crore.

Epack Durable rallied 6.92% after the company�s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 4.89 crore in Q3 FY24 as compared with net loss of Rs 6.24 crore in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations increased 1.25% YoY to Rs 279.05 in Q3 FY24, primarily due to the effects of weather disruption in Q1-FY24, that lead to inventory destocking by customers in Q2 and Q3, resulting in lower demand.

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks advanced across the board on Friday, boosted by overnight gains on Wall Street. Japan�s Nikkei 225 hit a fresh 34-year high. Mainland China markets remain closed for the Chinese New Year holidays.

US stocks closed higher on Thursday as retail sales data declined more than expected, feeding hopes the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates in coming months.

US retail sales fell more than expected in January. Retail sales dropped 0.8% last month, the Commerce Department`s Census Bureau said on Thursday. Data for December was revised lower to show sales rising 0.4%, instead of 0.6% as previously reported.

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